


Reassurance

by cowboydad



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gender-neutral Reader, Jack is best dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-24 16:14:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14957906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cowboydad/pseuds/cowboydad
Summary: You have a rough night on a mission, and it gets to you. Luckily, there's a certain masked vigilante on hand to offer some comfort. (Light angst with lots of fluff. Gender-neutral reader.)





	Reassurance

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic in quite a while! Honestly, I don't think I'll ever get tired of writing 76/Reader stuff, it is SUPER self indulgent but fun as heck. I have quite a lot of these little scenarios written down, so if people enjoy this I might post some more.  
> Hope you like it! Thanks for reading.
> 
> (Y/N: Your Name)

The moment you were within the confines of your safehouse (in this case, a modern apartment in a quiet part of the city), you tossed your gun onto the couch along with the pack that contained all your supplies. Soldier: 76 followed you inside, making sure the coast was clear as he did every night before securing the door. You’d met the vigilante nearly a year prior, when the both of you had found yourselves tracing the same Talon agent. Upon realising your goals were ultimately the same, you had teamed up. Admittedly you hadn’t expected it to last this long. You’d grown very fond of him, and whilst he’d never admit it, he felt similarly towards you. He had even trusted you enough to reveal his identity – a privilege not bestowed upon many, which was not lost on you in the slightest.

“There. Safe and sound.” He said, turning to face you. You were standing looking out of the tall window adorning the far wall, which offered a fantastic view of the city, with your arms crossed and your head bowed. Beneath his visor, Jack frowned.

“You okay?” he asked, despite already knowing the answer.

“Yeah. Fine.”

It was perhaps the least convincing lie you’d ever told, but you thought you’d at least try to dodge his question.

“Is this what we’re doing then? What happened to being honest with each other?” he said. When you didn’t answer, he sighed.

“You know you can talk to me, kid.”

You groaned and spun around to face him.

“For fuck’s sake, Jack, you know damn well what’s wrong!” you snapped at him, brows knitted together in anger. After a few moments of silence hung between you he spoke again, his voice low and calm.

“What happened tonight doesn’t matter.”

Your brow furrowed.

“Doesn’t matter? Bullshit! I nearly got the both of us killed!” you said sharply. “Not only that but I nearly screwed the whole plan up altogether, we could’ve lost that intel.”

“But we didn’t, did we?” Jack countered. “Look, you did what I probably would have done had I been in your position. You did what you thought was right in the moment; you were trying to save those civilians who got caught in our crossfire. It was a tough call.”

“And in the process, I nearly got them all killed.”

“Why are you getting so worked up about this? I’m not angry with you.” He said.

That made for a change, too. Just the month before he’d not stopped going on at you for a week when you nearly blew your cover on a mission.

“Because I can’t do anything without screwing it up!” You yelled in a frustrated outburst. Jack stood silent. “My whole fucking life I’ve tried to help, tried to do the right thing and it feels like every time I do I screw it up. I just-“

You dropped your head into your hands as you fell back against the window, sliding down until you were sitting with your knees against your chest.

“I was just trying to help.” You said, your voice muffled and choked.  

Jack’s heart ached for you. He knew what you were feeling all too well. With a tired exhale he reached up to remove his mask, relieved to feel the cool air of the apartment against his skin. He slowly crossed the room, his boots making a low thud with each step, setting his mask down on the table as he did so. He also removed his gloves, tossing them onto the couch carelessly.

You'd resorted to hugging your knees and hiding your face in your arms, your shoulders shaking with the effort of holding back your sobs. It was funny, really. You weren’t particularly upset, it was more frustration than anything else. So why the hell couldn’t you stop crying?

Jack sat beside you, unzipping his jacket to make the position more comfortable. Despite feeling his presence, you couldn’t bring yourself to look at him. You didn’t want him to see you like this. Jack reached a hand up to rest on the back of your head, his fingers threading through your hair in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. _Am I doing this right? God, Angela was always better at this..._

“Hey. It’s okay, Y/N.” He soothed.

You finally gave up on trying to hold back the tears and audibly sobbed. _Maybe this is why they say not to keep things bottled up_.

Jack shifted a little closer to you and slid the hand that was on your head down to your shoulder so he could pull you against him. You had to admit you were a little surprised at the action – Jack wasn’t exactly the “hugging” type – but it didn’t take long for you to melt into his embrace, burying your face into his chest.

For a few minutes, he rubbed small circles into your back, muttering small comforts until you weren’t trembling so much.

“I know how you feel, you know. I’m not just saying that to make you feel better, either.” He said. “When I first became Strike Commander – hell, I messed up a lot. It felt like I didn’t know what I was doing half the time, but I had to pretend that I did because so many people were counting on me. It was hard. And I admit, I…” he paused a moment and took a breath.

“There were some nights, alone in my quarters, when I’d just break down because the stress got to me. I didn’t feel like I could talk to anyone about how I felt.”

You mumbled something ineligible into his jacket in reply. He loosened his hold on you just a little bit so he could look down at you.

“What was that?” He asked softly. You lifted your head slightly.

“I-I said...I’m g-glad I have you, then.” You said quietly, punctuating the end of your sentence with a small sniff. Jack laughed. It was a sincere, rich sound that rumbled from his chest and it made your heart flutter a bit. You cautioned a glance up and found a warm smile occupying his features.

“Me too.”

The two of you sat there for a little while longer, illuminated by the glow of the city through the window. Jack still had his arm draped across your shoulders. For a big, gruff guy made of muscle and scars, he was a _really_ big softie. As you listened to the low, reassuring sound of his heartbeat, you realised how much you needed this. Not necessarily just the physical human contact, but the feeling that someone actually _cared_ about your wellbeing. The fact that that someone was Jack Morrison made the feeling even more special.

“You want a milkshake?”

Jack’s sudden outburst of a question completely caught you off guard and you sat up, blinking at him.

“Sorry?”

He shrugged.

“I want a milkshake.”

You laughed, and he liked the way your face lit up with genuine joy.

“Yeah, I could go for something full of sugar right now. Though considering we’re currently targets for a terrorist group, I’m not entirely sure it’s the best idea.” You reasoned.

“We’ll be fine. I don’t think Talon are going to be hanging around any milkshake shops at 11pm.” He said jokingly, pushing himself to his feet.

You stood up, wincing at the stiffness in your legs from sitting on the floor. Standing in front of Jack, you took hold of his arm to grab his attention.

“Hey, thank you. What you said, about when you were Strike Commander…I just appreciate you sharing that. It means a lot.”

Jack rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well, thanks for listening.”

You beamed up at him.

“Okay, milkshake time, Commander.” You playfully punched him in the arm and went off to grab your jacket. “You’re paying!”

Jack watched you fondly and smiled to himself. _Maybe you’re not so bad at this after all._


End file.
